Joanna Parrish: Devastated family of British student murdered in France to see justice three decades after her death
In a quiet graveyard in Gloucestershire, the only sounds are the bells ringing at the top of the hour, and the birds in the trees.
You look over the fence and see the River Severn, and the hills of the valley in the distance.
It is a beautiful, peaceful spot, but it is also a place linked to crime, violence and decades of anguish.
Joanna Parrish is buried here, her gravestone written in English and French.
She was murdered 33 years ago hundreds of miles away, in the French city of Auxerre.
Joanna was 20 years old, a university student teaching in France as part of her degree.
She went missing and then, not long after, her body was found in the River Yonne.
Nobody has ever been convicted of her murder, but we know who did it.
A serial killer called Michel Fourniret, who was already in prison for seven murders, admitted to killing Joanna five years ago, but died before he could be put on trial.
But now, after decades of despair and tragic errors, justice may be within sight.
Because Fourniret did not act alone.
Joanna Parrish was 20 years old when she went missing
He was helped in his murders by his wife, Monique Olivier, who lured girls and young women and allowed them to be attacked, raped and murdered by Fourniret.
She is still alive, now aged 74 and serving a 28-year sentence for complicity in the murders.
She once confessed to seeing Fourniret murder a young woman in Auxerre – clearly Joanna – but then retracted that statement.
Now, though, she is about to go on trial for being an accomplice in three further murders, including that of Joanna.
It has taken a third of a century, but perhaps justice is finally going to be delivered, for Joanna and for the parents who have spent decades searching for a form of closure.
Lives changed forever
At home in Gloucestershire, Pauline Murrell tends to her pet budgie and offers us a cup of tea.
From the sofa, her former husband, Roger Parrish, asks for a coffee.
The pair have been divorced for decades, but are still evidently close, caring and friendly. They finish each other’s sentences.
Joanna’s parents, Pauline and Roger, said their daughter was a ‘kind, bright and smart person’
Their lives changed, instantly and horribly, when they were told that their daughter had been murdered.
“It’s impossible to take in,” says Pauline. “They said she was found in the water, and I was staring out of a window and I simply couldn’t take it in. I couldn’t cry for six months.
“Then I got the post-mortem report and I opened it on a Sunday morning, and I wasn’t able to get out of bed.”
Roger wipes away a tear, the memories still so haunting. “She deserved a long and happy, fulfilled life. She worked hard and she deserved it. She was helpful, part of the community. People still remember her. She did well.”
Pauline’s last phone call with her had ended with a declaration of love from the parents to their daughter. It is a memory that offers some solace.
The devastation of grief was followed by frustration about the police investigation.
Roger and Pauline heard little from the French authorities. Instead, they went to France themselves and started asking questions, looking for information and demanding more effort.
And then came the arrest of Fourniret, and the pieces began to fall into place.
As it slowly became apparent that his wife had helped him, so Roger and Pauline became convinced that he had killed their daughter.
“Jo was a kind person,” says Roger, “but she was also bright and smart.
“She was not likely to have trusted a man who was by himself.
“When we found out that there was a female accomplice, I remember thinking that we had never thought of that. Why would we have done? But right from that moment, I thought, ‘this is it – this is the person’.”
But still the police could not put together the evidence to link Fourniret with Joanna’s murder.
In fact, they had bungled the investigation, mishandling the crime scene and mislaying crucial forensic evidence.
French police ‘lost some really important evidence’
Bernie Kinsella was a detective who worked as a liaison between British and French police.
He discovered an investigation that struggled to link multiple crimes, or to manage its resources. He’s still in touch with Roger and Pauline.
“The French lost some really important evidence,” he told me. “The semen sample from the original rape had just been lost, which is unthinkable in terms of any major investigation like that.
“Losing an exhibit like that is a glaring error, so that had a massive impact on their ability to investigate this properly.”
Desperate, Pauline even took the step of writing to Monique Olivier.
“I remember just saying that, from one mother to another mother, I wanted to know what happened. Her lawyers said it was a trick, that it wasn’t proper, and I was upset about that.
“It wasn’t a trick. It was heartfelt.
“It’s just such a horrible, horrible thing. I can’t imagine that any mother would be able to live with themselves.
“And now she’s pushing the victim bit, but I certainly don’t consider her the victim.” Her voice echoes with contempt.
Olivier has always suggested that she was coerced and intimidated by Fourniret, a claim that has been roundly dismissed by prosecutors.
When she was first convicted, in 2008, the court concluded that, far from being easily influenced, she was highly intelligent and capable.
The convictions of Olivier and Fourniret did not bring justice for Joanna. Olivier had originally made a statement linking her husband to the murder, but she then withdrew it.
The case went quiet and was eventually closed.
But in 2018, 28 years after he killed her, Fourniret admitted to the murder.
A court case beckoned before being delayed by the pandemic. Then, to the frustration of Roger and Pauline, Fourniret died.
“When he died, it wasn’t a great surprise because we knew he’d been ill, but we did feel cheated. I wanted to face him in court and that was taken away.
“We’re glad that he died. The world is a better place without a person like that but, at the same time, we would have wanted to face him – to look him in the eye.”
‘Trial is the last hurdle’
Now they have another chance. Both parents will be travelling to Nanterre, just outside Paris, for the trial.
“We probably look on it as the last hurdle,” says Roger. “It’s been a long time. It’s over 30 years so we’re glad it’s taking place.
“Until it’s over, we can’t get to whatever will be the next stage of our lives.”
Pauline adds: “I keep saying that it’s not going to bring her back.
“It’s almost as if you feel that once it’s over, everything will go back to normal. But it’ll never be like that.”
“No, it won’t be,” says Roger, nodding, holding his head.
“But it will stop us having to think all the time about what we are going to do next, what’s the next step, what are we going to do.
“Hopefully, that will be it – that it will clear our heads a little bit. We’ll never forget Jo. She’ll always be there.”
Roger and Pauline are warm, charming people, whose lives have been blighted in the most horrendous way.
If Olivier is convicted, it will surely bring some kind of closure.
But you wonder – after waiting so long for something so important, can it ever really be enough?
UK
Gregg Wallace: Over half of allegations against MasterChef presenter upheld, including one of unwanted physical contact
An investigation into Gregg Wallace’s “inappropriate behaviour” on MasterChef has found more than half of the allegations against him have been substantiated, including one of “unwanted physical contact”.
MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK shared a summary of its report into historical allegations of misconduct against the 60-year-old presenter, carried out by independent law firm Lewis Silkin over seven months.
The report said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef “untenable”.
Last week it emerged Wallace had been sacked as MasterChef presenter, with reports of more than 50 fresh allegations against him.
The investigation heard evidence from 78 witnesses, including 41 complainants. The investigations team spoke to Wallace three times for the report, conducting 14 hours of interviews with him.
There were 83 allegations against Wallace, and 45 of them were upheld. All were related to MasterChef.
The upheld allegations were:
• Twelve claims he made inappropriate jokes and innuendo;
• Sixteen reports he made sexually explicit comments;
• Two allegations that he made sexualised comments to or about someone;
• Four complaints that he made culturally insensitive or racist comments;
• Three claims that he was in a state of undress;
• Seven allegations of bullying;
• One allegation of unwanted touching.
Nearly all the allegations against Wallace were related to behaviour which is said to have occurred between 2005 and 2018, with just one substantiated allegation taking place after 2018.
Wallace and Anne-Marie Sterpini in 2014
Ahead of the publication of the summary, Wallace had said he had been “cleared of the most serious and sensational accusations” made against him.
He also said his neurodiversity had “now formally (been) diagnosed as autism”, saying in the social media post that it was “suspected and discussed by colleagues across countless seasons of MasterChef”.
BBC held no ‘central’ information over Wallace concerns
Additionally, the report summary found there were 10 standalone allegations about other people between 2012 and 2018/2019, two of which were substantiated. These were unrelated to Wallace, and those people were not named in the summary.
The investigation found that complaints had previously been raised with the production company between 2005 and 2024.
Gregg Wallace on MasterChef. Pic: BBC/ Shine TV 2024
While the report flagged inadequate reporting procedures before 2016, when Endemol merged with Shine ahead of Banijay acquiring Endemol Shine in 2020, it said there were significant improvements to HR processes and training after 2016.
The investigation said some formal action was taken by the BBC in 2017, but it also noted the corporation held no information regarding concerns raised over Wallace centrally, resulting in issues being addressed as a first offence.
Sky News has tried to contact Gregg Wallace today.
Gregg Wallace after being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the Princess Royal in an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. Picture date: Tuesday February 28, 2023.
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Picture by: Andrew Matthews/PA Archive/PA Images
Responding to the findings of the report, the BBC said the corporation had “no plans to work with [Wallace] in future”, saying his behaviour “falls below the values of the BBC”.
The BBC said “opportunities were missed” to address Wallace’s behaviour, adding, “We accept more could and should have been done sooner”.
Concerning the allegations against other individuals flagged in the report, the BBC said they had asked Banijay UK to take action to address these issues, and said it would “be completed as a priority”.
The corporation has yet to decide if the unseen MasterChef series that was filmed with Wallace last year will still be aired.
Production staff deserve ‘much, much better’
Banijay UK chief executive Patrick Holland called the report “uncomfortable reading”, but said its findings provided “valuable insight” for production teams moving forward.
In a nod to Wallace’s recent autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Mr Holland said Wallace’s neurodiversity was “relevant to certain behaviours identified in the report”, admitting “the production could have done more to identify, manage and communicate patterns of inappropriate behaviour”.
Philippa Childs, head of creative industries union Bectu, said the report findings made it clear that “inappropriate behaviour has gone unchecked for far too long,” adding: “This is a real failure by Banijay to take these issues seriously and act accordingly”.
Ms Childs said the report highlighted the precarious position of production staff, the majority of whom are freelance workers, who she said deserve “much, much better”.
Wallace was the original presenter of the BBC show Saturday Kitchen in 2002 and has also featured on Eat Well For Less?, Inside The Factory, Turn Back Time, Harvest and Supermarket Secrets.
He was best known, however, for presenting MasterChef, MasterChef: The Professionals, and Celebrity MasterChef.
Warning: This article contains details readers may find distressing.
An “evil” postman who moaned about being lonely hours before he severed his girlfriend’s head and tried to dismember her body has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years.
Ewan Methven murdered 21-year-old Phoenix Spencer-Horn in the flat they shared in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, in November last year.
The High Court in Glasgow heard the killer dumped his partner’s body parts in their hallway and failed to call emergency services for two days.
Phoenix Spencer-Horn was murdered in November
The 27-year-old then bought drugs, watched pornography and sent sickening texts to Phoenix’s worried mum pretending she was still alive.
Phoenix was stabbed 20 times – including 10 times in the face – using three knives in an attack that unfolded after she returned from her waitressing job in Lanarkshire.
The 21-year-old had described Methven as her “soulmate” on social media, saying in one TikTok video: “Life is so much more beautiful and full of colour with you.”
A few months later she was murdered by the same man she had been in a relationship with for two years.
Ewan Methven was jailed on Monday. Pic: Police Scotland
Methven received a life sentence with at least 23 years behind bars when he retuned to the dock on Monday.
The judge, Lord Matthews, described it as a “dreadful crime”.
He told Methven: “You were a trusted member of her family, but you betrayed that trust and robbed her of life in the cruellest way.
“Not content with what you had done to her, you robbed her of all dignity in death by decapitating her and trying to dismember her in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.”
The pair had been in a relationship for two years
Lord Matthews highlighted victim impact statements supplied by Phoenix’s family and said he had “rarely read such outpourings of grief”.
The judge said: “The way you treated this innocent young woman after her death meant that her family did not even have the comfort of saying goodbye to her.”
He added: “I have this morning seen a letter written by you, but it answers none of the questions which must be plaguing the family. You blame the effect of substances but that is no excuse.”
‘Personification of evil’
Sky News has interviewed the couple’s neighbour who lives directly next door.
Toni Brown, 25, described the horror of discovering what happened.
She said: “I think I stayed out of the house for about a week after that. I couldn’t even sit.
“It’s horrific. It gives me shivers thinking about it. It is crazy to think I stayed next door to a monster like that.
“What scares me the most is knowing she was lay there and I was in here oblivious.”
Neighbour Toni Brown spoke to Sky News
Asked whether she heard any noises or violence around the time of the murder, Ms Brown said: “There was a bad smell in my house in the early hours of the morning she was found.
“There was a bad smell in my kitchen basically where the walls join together.”
Methven’s own defence lawyer told the court that society will see the killer as the “personification of evil”.
When he eventually called 999, he claimed to have suffered a drug-induced blackout during the violent killing.
Ms Spencer-Horn was murdered by the man she once called her ‘soulmate’
Another life lost to gender-based violence
The case has raised questions once again about the growing prevalence of gender-based violence.
Fiona Drouet’s daughter Emily was 18 when she took her own life at university in Aberdeen in 2016, days after being choked and slapped by her ex-boyfriend.
Angus Milligan was later convicted of physical and psychological abuse.
Fiona Drouet’s daughter was a victim of physical abuse from an ex-boyfriend
Ms Drouet, who now campaigns on violence against women across the UK and Ireland, has set up a charity called Emily’s Test in her daughter’s name.
Reacting to the death of Ms Spencer-Horn, Ms Drouet told Sky News: “There is another mother and father that have just been plunged into utter hell.
“Somebody once said to me that if God came to you and said, ‘I am going to give you this beautiful daughter, but you’ll only have her for 18 years and then we need to take her back, would you still want her?’ and I would take those 18 years and go through the pain rather than have nothing.
“Although just now that probably offers no words of comfort for Phoenix’s parents, maybe one day it can.”
If you suspect you are being abused and need to speak to someone, there are people who can help you, including The National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or Women’s Aid online.
A military exercise bringing together more than 35,000 personnel across 19 different nations, including the UK, is under way in Australia – with Chinese spy ships expected to watch.
The drill – the largest-ever war fighting exercise to take place in Australia – officially started on Sunday with a ceremony in Sydney.
The biennial drill, known as Exercise Talisman Sabre, started in 2005 as a joint exercise between the US and Australia.
This year, personnel from Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom have joined.
The Ministry of Defence said the UK Carrier Strike Group, including HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Richmond, would be training with forces from New Zealand, among others, ahead of the exercise.
The UK’s Carrier Strike Group taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre. Pic: X/@COMUKCSG
“F-35B jets and Merlin helicopters, part of a wider multinational force, are ready to defend and deepen ties across the Indo-Pacific under Operation Highmast,” said a post on the MoD’s X account.
This morning, the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) said on its own X account: “Exercise #TalismanSabre25 begins! UK #CSG25 is excited to join with 18 partner nations and over 35,000 military personnel for the largest iteration of the exercise in its history.”
An Australian Airforce F35 fighter jet participates in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. Pic: AP
The 19 countries will take part in the exercise over three weeks, Australia’s defence department said on Sunday, with China expected to monitor activities.
The drills will also take place in neighbouring Papua New Guinea, making it the first time Talisman Sabre activities have been held outside Australia.
Chinese ships have monitored naval exercises off the Australian coast during the last four Talisman Sabre exercises and were expected to carry out surveillance on the current exercise, Australian defence industry minister Pat Conroy said.
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Rockets are launched from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System during Talisman Sabre 2025. Pic: AP
“The Chinese military have observed these exercises since 2017. It’d be very unusual for them not to observe it,” Mr Conroy told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“We’ll adjust accordingly. We’ll obviously observe their activities and monitor their presence around Australia, but we’ll also adjust how we conduct those exercises,” he added.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Mr Conroy said the Chinese were not yet shadowing ships as of Sunday.
The drill started a day after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese began a six-day visit to China, where he is expected to hold his fourth face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.
HIMARS rockets are fired by Australian, US and Singapore defence forces. Pic: Reuters
Mr Albanese said Chinese surveillance of Talisman Sabre would not be an issue raised with Mr Xi.
“That would be nothing unusual. That has happened in the past and I’ll continue to assert Australia’s national interest, as I do,” Mr Albanese said in Shanghai on Monday.
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